Dozens of volunteers did an amazing job this morning kicking off the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo with a children's Cowboy Carnival.
Hundreds of children and their families were treated to an introduction to rodeo to rival the rodeo itself.
Right in the dirt where the cowboys will ride tonight, children were riding a bucking barrel, roping hay bale calves, petting and grooming a live miniature pony, and throwing horseshoes.
They were riding hobby horses around a barrel racing track, tossing beanbags into cowboy cutouts, colouring cowboy images, having little moustaches painted on their lips (girls and boys) and other images painted on their faces, and climbing aboard tractors and other ranch equipment to see what it feels like.
As parents, grandparents, cousins and friends snapped pictures and videos here and there it seemed the older family members were having just as much fun as the kids.
Stampede Royalty, past and present were there to help out the many other volunteers and help teach the little ones their skills.
All in all it was a great way to kick off the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo that begins with the first performance tonight, April 18 at 6 p.m. in the Cariboo Memorial Complex and continues Saturday and Sunday with Performance at 1 p.m.
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